National Gallery

The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. It is on show 361 days a year, free of charge.

With free access to over 2,300 paintings from altarpieces to the Impressionists, there's something for everyone at the National Gallery.

Venue Type:

Gallery, Museum

Opening hours

Open daily 10.00-18.00, Fri 10.00-21.00

Admission charges

Admission free

Additional info

The National Gallery holds regular events given or interpreted in British Sign Language (BSL).On the last Saturday of every month the ‘Art Through Words’ programme for blind and partially sighted visitors examines one painting in the collection in detail.

The National Gallery’s permanent collection spans the period from about 1250 to 1900 and consists of Western European paintings.

Collection details

Fine Art, Personalities, Religion, Social History

Key artists and exhibits

'The Wilton Diptych'

Jan van Eyck 'The Arnolfini Portrait'

Paolo Uccello 'The Battle of San Romano'

Piero della Francesca 'The Baptism of Christ'

Sandro Botticelli 'Venus and Mars'

Leonardo da Vinci 'The Virgin of the Rocks'

Michelangelo 'The Entombment'

Giovanni Bellini 'The Doge Leonardo Loredan'

Raphael 'The Madonna of the Pinks'

Jan Gossaert 'The Adoration of the Kings'

Titian 'Bacchus and Ariadne'

Hans Holbein the Younger 'The Ambassadors'

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 'The Supper at Emmaus'

Peter Paul Rubens 'Samson and Delilah'

Anthony Van Dyck, 'Equestrian Portrait of Charles I'

Rembrandt 'Self Portrait at the Age of 34'

Claude 'Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula'

Diego Velázquez 'The Rokeby Venus'

Johannes Vermeer 'A Young Woman standing at a Virginal'

Canaletto 'The Stonemason's Yard'

Thomas Gainsborough 'Mr and Mrs Andrews'

George Stubbs 'Whistlejacket'

François-Hubert Drouais 'Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame'

John Constable, 'The Hay Wain'

Joseph Mallord William Turner 'The Fighting Temeraire'

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 'Madame Moitessier'

Claude-Oscar Monet 'Bathers at La Grenouillère'

Georges Seurat 'Bathers at Asnières'

Vincent Van Gogh 'Sunflowers'

Paul Cezanne, 'Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)'

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (temporary)

Maíno’s Adorations: Heaven on Earth

28 September 2016 — 29 January 2017 *on now

Experience two outstanding masterpieces by Spanish painter Maíno, on display in the UK for the first time.

Born in Pastrana in Castile, Maíno travelled to Rome at the beginning of the 17th century and was among the first Spanish painters to witness Caravaggio’s revolutionary naturalism.

On display concurrently with the Beyond Caravaggio exhibition, Maíno’s two vast altar paintings ‘The Adoration of the Shepherds’ and ‘The Adoration of the Kings’ illustrate Caravaggio’s extended influence across Europe.

Suitable for

Website

Beyond Caravaggio

12 October 2016 — 15 January 2017 *on now

'Beyond Caravaggio' is the first major exhibition in the UK to explore the influence of Caravaggio on the art of his contemporaries and followers.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) is one of the most revolutionary figures in art. His strikingly original paintings, with their intense naturalism and dramatic lighting, had a lasting impact on European art, both during his lifetime and in the decades immediately following his untimely death.

This exhibition will look at the ripple effect of Caravaggio’s influence on the art of his followers – artists as diverse as Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, and Gerrit van Honthorst. Every one of them absorbed something different from Caravaggio – some borrowed his theatrical lighting whilst others sought to emulate the power of his storytelling – and helped propagate his style across Europe, giving rise to the international movement known as ‘Caravaggism’.

Suitable for

Any age

Exhibition (temporary)

Australia’s Impressionists

7 December 2016 — 26 March 2017 *on now

Discover Australia’s significant and distinctive Impressionist movement in the first UK exhibition to focus on the subject.

Introducing Impressionism as it manifested itself in the unique Australian context – closely related to yet entirely distinct from its French and British counterparts – 'Australia’s Impressionists' considers the role artists played in defining a new sense of national identity.

Showcasing Australia’s four major exponents of Impressionism – Tom Roberts (1856–1931), Arthur Streeton, Charles Conder (1868–1909), and John Peter Russell (1858–1930) – the exhibition comprises some forty loans, many never previously shown in the UK.

Lenders include some of Australia’s leading public galleries, as well as private collectors there and in the UK.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Cagnacci’s Repentant Magdalene

15 February — 21 May 2017

Witness Cagnacci’s masterpiece, on display in the UK for the first time in over thirty years.

A pupil of Guido Reni, Guido Cagnacci (1601–1663) was an extraordinarily original talent and one of the most accomplished Italian painters of the Baroque period, yet he is not represented in any UK public collection.

'The Repentant Magdalene' is a major loan from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, which invites visitors to appreciate Cagnacci’s astonishing naturalism and the characteristic sensuality of his paintings, in what is unquestionably the greatest painting he ever produced.

Suitable for

Website

Michelangelo | Sebastiano: A Meeting of Minds

Learn about the extraordinary artistic relationship between two great Renaissance masters, Sebastiano del Piombo and Michelangelo, from the 1510s through to the 1540s.

Having met in Rome in 1511, where Michelangelo was finishing his decoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the artists became friends and collaborated on several works.

This exhibition focuses on two of these collaborations: the 'Pietà' for San Francesco in Viterbo (c.1512–16), an exceptional loan, and The Raising of Lazarus, painted for the Cathedral of Narbonne, one of the foundational works in the National Gallery Collection.

Works that precede their meeting will also be on display, as well as examples of their extensive, intimate correspondence, providing behind-the-scenes insight into their personal and creative lives, their concerns and frustrations, and moments of glory.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Chris Ofili: Weaving Magic

26 April — 28 August 2017

Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili unveils a new work – see his first foray into the medium of tapestry.

Commissioned by the Clothworkers’ Company, Ofili has been collaborating with the internationally renowned Dovecot Tapestry Studio to see his design translated into a hand-woven tapestry. The imagery reflects Ofili’s ongoing interest in classical mythology and the stories, magic, and colour of the Trinidadian landscape he inhabits.

Ofili returns to the National Gallery following the exhibition Metamorphosis: Titian 2012.

The tapestry goes on permanent display in the Clothworkers’ Hall following this exhibition.

Website

Giovanni da Rimini: An Early 14th-Century Masterpiece Reunited

Learn about a key moment in the history of art, when emphasis on observation and realism was born.

The exquisite Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and other Saints by Giovanni da Rimini, the most talented artist in 14th-century Rimini, was purchased by the National Gallery in 2015.

Long thought of as part of a diptych together with a panel depicting ‘Scenes from the Life of Christ’ in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome, the exhibition reunites the paintings, a reconstruction never before seen in the UK.

Presented with outstanding loans including works by artists working in Rimini in the early 14th century, exceptional ivory plaques, and important Italian Trecento paintings from the National Gallery, the exhibition reveals how these innovative works combine the discerning details of late-Byzantine icons with a new, more expressive style.

Suitable for

Website

Reflections: Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites

4 October 2017 — 2 April 2018

Discover how van Eyck’s 'Arnolfini Portrait' was one of the beacons by which the Pre-Raphaelites forged a radical new style of painting.

Acquired by the National Gallery in 1842, the Arnolfini Portrait informed the Pre-Raphaelites’ belief in empirical observation, their ideas about draughtsmanship, colour and technique, and the ways in which objects in a picture could carry symbolic meaning.

The exhibition will bring together for the first time the 'Arnolfini Portrait' with paintings from the Tate collection and loans from other museums, to explore the ways in which Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896) and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), among others, were influenced by the painting in their work.

Website

Monochrome: Painting in Black and White

Explore the tradition of painting in black and white from its beginnings in the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and into the 21st century.

Painting using predominantly black-and-white pigments has long held a fascination for artists, yet there has never been a major exhibition on the subject.

‘Monochrome’ presents a series of case studies that investigate where and when grisaille painting was used and to what effect: from early religious works to paintings that emulate sculpture or respond to other media such as printmaking, photography, and film.

Comprising works on glass, vellum, ceramic, silk, wood, and canvas by artists such as Leonardo, Rembrandt, Degas, Picasso, and Gerhard Richter (1932–), ‘Monochrome’ encourages visitors to trace the fascinating but little-studied history of black-and-white painting.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Events details are listed below. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all. For events that don't have a specific date see the 'Resources' tab above.

Late opening

Star Late

16 December 2016 6-9pm

Celebrate Christmas at the National Gallery and discover the stars in the collection.

Listen to special festive performances from the ENO chorus, create beautiful star themed fascinators and Christmas wreaths. Enjoy tales of Christmas past and special star themed talks and illuminate the Milky Way with artist led drawing sessions.

Magic Carpet Storytelling on Sundays

Fly away on the magic carpet at The National Gallery as it comes to land in front of a different painting each Sunday. Enjoy stories that tie in with creative workshops happening on the same day, suitable for children under 5 years old. Come along at 10.30-11.00 or 11.30-12.00 to the Education Centre.

How to obtain

Booking is not necessary but places are limited and allocated on arrival. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Email information@ng-london.org.uk for further details.

Digital and online resources

Take One Picture

Take One PictureEach year the National Gallery's Take One Picture scheme focuses on a painting from the Collection to inspire cross-curricular work in primary classrooms.Paintings can be used for work in literacy, numeracy, ICT, science, history, art and design, craft, design and technology, and PSHEE and citizenship.Each year the Gallery displays a selection of schools' work in the Take One Picture exhibition.

Website

National Gallery website

National Gallery online shop

E-mail

Telephone

020 7747 2885

Fax

020 7747 2423

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.